Table 1

Characteristics of eligible patients with prevalent COPD for the study on 1 January 2005

Characteristic	n	Per cent
Total	16 647	100
Age at study start (years)*
40–50	1198	7.2
50–60	2764	17
60–70	4522	27
70–80	5422	33
80–90	2492	15
90+	249	1.5
Sex
Female	8770	53
Male	7877	47
Comorbidities (within previous 5 years)
Myocardial infarction	795	4.8
Congestive heart failure	1785	11
Peripheral vascular disease	922	5.5
Cerebrovascular disease	1178	7.1
Peptic ulcer disease	627	3.8
Liver disease	176	1.1
Diabetes	1134	6.8
Moderate to severe renal disease	287	1.7
Any malignancy except lung cancer	950	5.7
Alcoholism-related diseases	162	1.0
Atrial fibrillation/flutter	1400	8.4
Medically diagnosed obesity	575	3.5
Hypertension	2066	12
Osteoporosis	1021	6.1
Lung cancer	186	1.1
Asthma	2006	12
Obstructive sleep apnoea	337	2.0
Rheumatoid arthritis	151	0.9
Depression	340	2.0
Treatments within previous 12 months
Systemic steroids	4993	30
Theophylline	1164	7.0
Oxygen therapy	258	1.5
COPD treatment
Non-treated/unclassified	4880	29
Short-acting bronchodilators	2958	18
Long-acting bronchodilator	2041	12
Double therapy	4226	25
Triple therapy	2542	15
Infection within previous 3 months
Prescription for antibiotics	5103	31
Prescription for antivirals	55	0.3
Prescription for antibiotics as well as antivirals	26	0.2

See the text and online supplementary appendix for definition of GOLD treatment groups.
Previous lung volume reduction surgery is not shown in the table because it was rare (close to 0%).
*Overall, the median age was 70 years (lower quartile 61 years; upper quartile 77 years).
COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; GOLD, Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease.